My own connection with Myeloma is due to my Dad. I have to confess that until he was diagnosed I was blissfully unaware of this form of cancer. However, it is horrific. It’s a blood cancer which eats away at the bone marrow & causes an unbearable amount of pain & overwhelming fatigue. It’s not a very well known form of cancer although last October we heard the devastating news that a friend had also died of it, suddenly & unexpectedly, after only a month or so of back pain, the Myeloma discovered too late. He had only just turned 57. 

His incredibly brave wife & I decided we’d like to do this event & hoped it would be a good way to help raise awareness & funds for myeloma research. 

For me, there is an irony to taking part in a cycle for Dad as there were few things that would raise his blood pressure more - having lived for so long up a single track road - than being held up by cyclists! 

This is my Father's story.

From Dad’s 70th Birthday in July ‘14 he suffered from almost continual, debilitating headaches, then gradually those were followed by random aches & a lack of desire/ability to do a lot of the everyday things he enjoyed. Then he was found to have fractured his hip simply from walking a few yards from his car to the house. That was followed by a duodenal ulcer & each ailment was being treated individually. Meanwhile, we were watching our strong, outdoor loving Dad waste away before our eyes as the weight dropped from his bones & he spent more & more time confined to his chair as he was too weak to do more than the most basic of tasks. Although my Father was in his 70's & therefore fitted the myeloma 'profile' regarding gender & age, a diagnosis wasn't made until Feb 2016. He was, for the next few months, on a programme of chemotherapy, blood transfusions & bone sparing treatment, which he began at a critical stage. Unfortunately, my Dad had only a few months of positive results where in the summer of 2016, the myeloma was suppressed enough for him to go back to doing some of the things he enjoyed. However, by Oct it had returned with a vengeance & we were left reeling with the shock that we were going to lose him after all. He died in Nov 2016, less than 11 months after diagnosis.

When diagnosis is made early enough there is a far greater chance of success with treatment, even though it's still an incurable cancer. And now, with the ablity to do stem cell transplants, many patients are able to live a normal, active life for many years. In fact, there are a number of myeloma patients taking part in this cycle. With that in mind, I'd love to see a raised awareness of the disease within GP practises across the UK, so that early diagnosis can take place more often.

I will have to dig deep to do this event as its way beyond my comfort zone. However, I’ve been training hard & while I'm on the road, I'll try to remember that I'm lucky to be in good enough health to even consider taking part. Please help make it worth my while. Thank you. Xx

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